Language:
English
Year of publication:
2020
Titel der Quelle:
Revue des Etudes Juives
Angaben zur Quelle:
179, 3-4 (2020) 315-331
Keywords:
Talmud Yerushalmi. Criticism, interpretation, etc.
;
Bible. Commentaries
;
Judaism Relations
;
Roman religion
;
Judaism Relations
;
Christianity
Abstract:
This study explores the possibility that Roman political rhetoric is reflected in a passage from Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 2:7, 5b-c that expounds on Song of Songs 6:2. This text equates lilies with converts to Judaism, whom God would pluck from among the nations and gather into Israel, a description which echoes a distinctive floral metaphor that occurs in two Roman sources that address broadening the membership of the Roman Senate and increasing its numbers by recruiting provincial leaders: namely, the Lyon Tablet and the speech by Nazarius in Latin Panegyric X (4).35.1-3. In these Roman and talmudic sources, a higher being identifies the finest men from all other nations and promotes them into a superior community: the Roman emperor elevates provincials to the senatorial order and the God of Israel selects gentiles for the people of Israel. In this study, we survey the use of floral metaphors in Jewish, Christian, Greek, and Roman literature to argue that this talmudic passage applies a Roman motif to present the incorporation of proselytes into Israel in a favorable light.
DOI:
10.2143/REJ.179.3.3288800
URL:
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